Life and Death

Life and Death considers ageing and mortality from a psychoanalytic perspective and from the point of view of the individual, the couple, and the family. The book grounds a psychoanalytic approach to understanding later life as a key point of developmental challenge for us all.

Andrew Balfour trained as a clinical psychologist at University College London and then as an adult psychotherapist at the Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust. He subsequently trained as a couple psychotherapist at Tavistock Relationships, where for more than 10 years he was Clinical Director before becoming Chief Executive in 2016.

Introduction Chapter 1 Ageing in Body and Mind: The Challenges of Living a Long Life Chapter 2 Intimacy and Sexuality in Later Life Chapter 3 Another Country? Migration, Displacement, and Internal Dislocation in Old Age Chapter 4 How to Think about the Experience of Dementia? The Importance of the Unconscious Mind Chapter 5 The Fragile Thread of Connection: Living as a Couple with Dementia Chapter 6 Working Psychotherapeutically with Couples who are Living with Dementia Chapter 7 At Home in a Home? Institutional Care and the 'Unheimlich' Chapter 8 Dying and Assisted Death